Dormant Clemetis - Help!!

[Sunbeam]

A couple of years ago my mum bought me a clemetis 'Alba' from our local market - it has a green sometime bordering on cream flower & has been quite prolific over the time I have had it. Last Feb we moved & being the naughty person I was I dug it up, potted it & then transplanted it into my garden here , where it flowered again quite happily...

this year nothing seems to be happening - I cut it back in October as I had been told to by the chap that sold it to me & there is still a small stump of live stem sitting just above the surface of the ground. I always have it part covered with a broken plant pot - I was told to do this to protect it where it meets the earth.

Is it just too early for it to be doing anything or do they just lie dormant every now and again?? Everything else seems to be flourishing around it,

Help! I love my Alba!!

[nick the grief]

Hi Sunbeam, I've got an early clematis that is only just staarting to come into leaf, s I think things are still a bit late. We need a few more weeks like the last one to get things moving !

[bramble]

Hi Sunbeam, I think you cut it back at the wrong time. As far as i know you should have cut it back by the end of June as its an early flowering variety. I think by pruning it so late in the year it may not flower for you this year BUT i may well be proven wrong. Hope this helps.

[Sunbeam]

Many thanks for this - I guess I'll just have to sit back and wait til next year!

[eskymo]

I've got three clematis on the go - two of which are montana and as I've just planted them recently, they are only starting to come to life. The other clematis [I have no idea what type it is] looked completely dead and I was going to throw it away, but it sprung back to life a few weeks ago and is just starting to put on some growth. I think you should wait a month or so and see what happens - I'm sure it will flower again.

[Alice]

I think we're talking about patience here. My clematis are enormous and covered in buds / flowers at the moment but they are very mature. I seem to remember when they were first planted they were pathetic, made very little growth and scarcely a flower. They always looked as if they were struggling to survive. After about 3 years they just took off and have never looked back. Think you'll just have to wait for them to be ready to do it,but they will in time. Keep the roots in the shade, cover them with something if you have to , and the growing stems out in the sun and be patient.

[Squirrel]

I had a beautiful clematis montana growing over the fence together with a lovely autumn flowering honesuckle bush. Magnificent until my pup decided to attack both of them! The clematis has gone to the big plot in the sky and the honeysuckle is a shadow of it's former self! I spotted her leaping over the bush and grabbing a mouthful of bush on the way past! Little beast!!

[eskymo]

what on earth made her do that? dogs are weird!

[Squirrel]

I am convinced that she is not all there mentally! Got her as a 10 week pup to train up as an assistance dog as I am disabled, but it is not going to happen! Sadly she is scared of people (I blame the breeder not doing enough at a young age) and today she saw a dog coming towards her and really legged it. Fortunately managed to stop her by shrieking like a fishwife but it is a worry!

She is very intelligent and will already help me empty the wash basket - she hauls the socks and knickers out and 'kills' them before giving them to me and will pick up stuff that I have dropped. Just a year old, it is such a shame that she has this problem!

[eskymo]

I've got a border collie - just over a year old - a rescue dog abused and neglected from birth...very sad story to be honest.

We've had her for 4 months now and it's really hard work. She goes through phases of really taking to training and just as we think we're winning and it's all working something sends her back to square one and we have to start all over again, bemused.

We've been whistle training her and getting her to associate the whistle with tasty food and treats [like Pavlovs dogs] so that when we're in the woods and she goes after a deer or rabbit we can get her back by blowing the whistle. It was working fine, to a point, until this week when she just decided to ignore the whistle completely and we have no idea why.

At the same time shes started jumping and barking at tractors and trucks again which we stopped her doing months ago.

Dogs are weird!

[Squirrel]

Yes dogs can be weird - but truth to tell, when I didn't have one life felt really empty. There is something not quite right about going for a walk without a dog!

This morning she decided to play in the mud in the back yard in the rain. Guess who landed up getting a bath! Mud everywhere!